


The (Real) Women in Tech Thing

by idinathoreau



Series: Tech Conference AU [3]
Category: Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist (TV)
Genre: Body Shots, Drinking, Drunken Kissing, Drunken Shenanigans, F/F, and of course it could have been with anyone, but come on, if joan is right there, just what my gay mind imagines when the show all but implies this very scenario, not canon, of course zoey's gonna do body shots off of her, they're both bi here cause that's my headcanon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 01:28:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29481471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idinathoreau/pseuds/idinathoreau
Summary: “You don’t know my past…” An imagining of the canon events that happened when Zoey was “a drunk white girl in Daytona”. Featuring drunk!Zoey, drunk!Joan, and a possible explanation for the intense chemistry and non-stop flirting between these two.
Relationships: Zoey Clarke/Joan
Series: Tech Conference AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1998421
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	The (Real) Women in Tech Thing

**Author's Note:**

> For those keeping track at home, I'm placing this trip to Daytona as post "Night out" (1x06) but pre "Confession" (1x07). So the Joan and Leif thing and Max's flashmob haven't happened yet.

Zoey had been drunk before. 

But it was a whole new kind of feeling being drunk and surrounded by her fellow tech woman in Daytona.

“Anotherrr round for mahhh ladddies!”

A cheer went up as Joan tossed back her third martini of the night, already gesturing for another one. 

Zoey watched, a stupid smile completely stuck on her face. 

She’d seen Joan drunk before…the night of Simon’s engagement party. But that paled in comparison to tonight. Tonight Joan was really letting loose. Zoey had lost count after ten shots.

It was getting a tad scary actually, watching Joan throw around her money and shed her jacket. 

“J-Joan!” Zoey squeaked as the older woman sat herself on the bar. She giggled. “W…what are you???”

“Hey barrrtender!” Joan called, waving over the tattooed woman who made incredible martinis. “Can we get some tequila shots, salt, and lime wedges? I gotta show these chicas how to party!”

“Joan!” Zoey squeaked again, reaching for the woman’s hand. “Wh-what are you doing now?”

“Body shots!” Joan declared, seizing the bottle and pouring out two overflowing shots. “That’s fun; I’m fun so let’s have fun!” She started tugging her shirt free of her pants.

Zoey stared, mouth suddenly dry. “J-Joan are you sure you want to…?”

“Come ooonnn Zoey! I’m a single, hot woman drunk in Daytona. Live a little!” Joan stretched out on the bar, her shirt rolled up and tied off just under her breasts.

“Oh…oh!” Zoey realized, “you want me to…”

Joan rolled her eyes and picked up the salt shaker. “Yes, Zoey. I thought you were supposed to be the smart one?” She sprinkled salt across her stomach and took a lime wedge. She slid it into her mouth and winked at Zoey. 

Her heart surprisingly calm, Zoey leaned down and licked a tentative, long line across Joan’s toned stomach. She only got the barest hint of salt but she felt the muscles contract under her tongue. 

Flushing, Zoey pulled away and groped. She knocked back the shot and grimaced at the burn. But she was so buzzed by this point in the night that she didn’t care. 

She used the very edge of her teeth to take the lime from between Joan’s lips. But her bottom lip still made contact with Joan’s and she felt the woman exhale heavily. 

“Wahooo!” Joan cried, sitting up. She did not roll down her shirt and Zoey stared at the skin. “I think you missed the salt but it’s the sensation that counts right?” She hiccuped once and hopped down off the bar. “Your turn.”

“My…?”

Joan bopped her on the nose. “Only if you want tooo.” She pouted heavily. “But I’ll tease you about it forever if you don’t!”

How could Zoey say no to that face? “Yeah…yeah!” Zoey tugged her shirt up but before she could lay back on the bar, there was a splash and a strong smell of beer.

Joan tugged her back and away from the puddle of running alcohol.

Zoey grimaced. “Now what?” 

Joan glanced down at her and smirked. She pulled Zoey against the bar, leaning the coder back against it. “There are other parts of you I could lick…” She rumbled.

The coder choked on her own spit. “L…like?”

Smirking, Joan lowered her mouth to Zoey’s neck. She whimpered as Joan’s mouth drew a hot, wet line from her collar to her ear. Her hands flailed, one eventually bracing itself on the bar while the spare grasped at Joan’s hip.

Joan took the salt shaker and tapped a generous amount onto the path she’d marked. Before Zoey could even comment, Joan pressed a lime wedge into her mouth. She almost swallowed it whole as Joan’s tongue returned and scooped the salt off of her neck. Zoey had a momentary reprieve as Joan knocked back her shot. But it wasn’t enough to get her heart back under control. 

She struggled to push the lime wedge out between her lips, giving Joan plenty of space to just pluck it away just like she had. But Joan clearly had other ideas. 

Her boss’ lips closed around the lime wedge. And then pressed firmly against her lips.

Joan bit down and sour juice flooded Zoey’s mouth. Joan’s tongue and the rind were jockeying for position in her cheeks and Zoey wanted more of the former and way less of the latter. But she couldn’t break the contact to spit out the lime wedge.

Evidently Joan felt the same way. Her teeth caught the lime wedge and yanked it from Zoey’s mouth. 

The contact broke and Zoey flailed, still lost in the taste and feel of Joan in her mouth. 

But just as suddenly as it left, it was back, sans an irritating lime rind.

And hold crap did Joan have a talented tongue.

Zoey all but melted against her as Joan’s mouth moved against hers. She was far softer and less prickly than Simon and she tasted way better than any of the people she’d kissed in college. 

She was so caught up in the kiss that the undeniable fact that Joan was her boss and wait a minute this was really happening and maybe she liked it didn’t really start to register until Joan finally pulled back. 

Zoey blinked several times, trying to corral her mind back into proper freaking out form around the several ounces of alcohol and one tongue too many that had sent it careening off into Zoeyland. 

Joan stumbled and Zoey found that her hands had taken up residence on the taller woman’s butt. Joan’s hips were against hers, pressing her back against the bar. 

“You’re perfect…” Joan slurred, face still in Zoey’s neck. She tongued a salty spot on Zoey’s skin.

“You’re drunk…” Zoey replied, not moving her hands. “I’m drunk…this is…this is crazy.” And more importantly, Joan’s butt felt crazy toned. Her hands were still stuck there.

Joan was so much older than her. She’d been married for two decades! They worked together and were rapidly becoming close friends. Zoey had two guys back home actively vying for her affection. She realized she’d all but forgotten about them both over the course of this night.

Joan gently nibbled on Zoey’s collar and Zoey gave up trying to figure out rational thought. “I like crazy.” Joan rasped against the coder’s skin.

Zoey melted. Fuck crazy. This was insane. And she loved it.

* * *

They made it upstairs but somewhere between wandering lips and hands, they both passed out half-dressed on the hotel bed.

* * *

Joan wasn’t in bed when Zoey woke. She rolled over, trying to figure out why her shirt was off and her pants were around her knees.

The sunlight hurt and her brain pounded against her skull but she remembered falling into the same bed as Joan the previous night. She recalled a taste of salt and a gush of sour juice. 

“Ugh…no more tequila ever…” Zoey groaned. She smacked her lips. “My tongue feels like sandpaper.”

“Well your tongue is quite good at smoothing the rough edges…”

Zoey sat up, whirling around to find a fully-composed Joan emerging from the bathroom. In the cold, sober light of day, last night shined especially painfully. Zoey could feel her whole body turning red. “Oh god…Joan I…”

“It’s okay Zoey!” Joan insisted, going about pulling on her shoes and making coffee like it was any other normal day. And not like she’d traced the entire length of Zoey’s collarbone with her tongue the night before. “it was just a little bit of drunk fun. No reason to get embarrassed about it.”

Zoey envied her casualness. “ye…yeah…” Zoey swallowed. “But…we…didn’t we…?”

“Didn’t we what?” Joan turned on her, giving her one of those expectant smiles like she knew exactly what Zoey was going to say and just wanted her to spit it out. But somehow, Zoey didn’t think they were on the same page this time.

“N…nothing.” Zoey slid out of bed and sidled around Joan to get to her clothes. “Just uh…give me a second and I’ll be ready to go!” It was effortless to slide back into her cheerful optimism around Joan. 

Zoey considered her predicament as she showered off the salt and the smell of tequila. If Joan wasn’t going to make a thing out of it, why should she? Their friendship had only just begun and this had been such a nice trip so far. Kissing Joan had been...well, drunk-kissing Joan had been amazing. And touching her. And wrestling with the woman's slacks until she gave up and closed her eyes. But she wasn't going to throw away the good thing they had going by mentioning any of it. Ever.

She stepped out of the shower and regarded the small hickies on her neck. 

Nothing to make a big deal about. Some concealer and no one would know.

* * *

Joan’s smile faded quickly as she turned her back on Zoey. 

It was just some drunk fun. No reason to make anything out of it. It wasn’t like they had banged. Although they had come close. If she hadn't fallen asleep...they might have been having a very different conversation this morning. No, it had just been some good-natured girl-on-girl action typical of college parties.

Still, guilt that she couldn’t justify was burning under her skin. She was single, Zoey was single. No one had cheated, no one had gotten hurt. Zoey had certainly seemed to enjoy everything they’d done last night. Logically, there was no reason to feel bad.

But she knew. If it had been anyone but Zoey, this would have indeed been nothing. But it had been Zoey.

She had almost just detonated their whole friendship for a night of drunk antics. 

On the plus side though, she now knew exactly what kinds of comments turned Zoey into a stammering hot mess. And that Zoey liked her butt in tight pants. 

And even if they never spoke of this again, she was going to damn well make sure Zoey never forgot.

**Author's Note:**

> There ended up being more angst in this than I expected. But I felt it would help explain all the tension in their farewell in 2x01. And the jealousy from Zoey in 1x07-1x08. And Joan's general demeanor around Zoey. And just everything unsaid between these idiots.


End file.
